Tuesday, December 18, 2012
English II Journal (Poetry)
In an organized journal that supports a clear thesis, compare and contrast Li-Young Lee's poem with Rita Dove's poem. Compare and contrast the speakers, the power of memory, the setting, the tone of the poem, the food served, the theme or message of the poem, and the symbols in the poem.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In both of the poems the families deal with the death of their father. Someone that mostly provides for you passes away someone has to take over and provide good care for their family. So in The first poem "Eating Together" by Li-Young Lee the mother takes over after the death of her partner. The mothers son is thankful also proud of his mother for dealing with his death of his father and taking the fact that her partner is now gone so now she has her family in her hands and she manages to put her family coward. She then has taken over his fathers duities. The Second poem "Grape Sherbet" by Rita Dove tells how she is just speaking of a good memory and not knowing at the time what was going on and then her father dies. She rethinks that day and see's how her father tryed to make them feel better with the sherbet to cope with the loss of a grand father. The first poem they eat fish and the second poem there eating sherbet. In the poem "Eating Together" the tone sounds as if its depressing also a sad tone . In the other poem "Grape sherbet" the tone seems to be upset for the girl and lessoned taught . She now has be mature and maintain responsibility
ReplyDeleteMicheal Carlon 5'
The authors of both "Grape Sherbet" and "Eating Together" speak about a traditional food they would eat as a family and it would brig them together but that memory is also tied to a loss that each had that was one of the key people in that memory or they were what the memory was most associated with. In the poem "Grape Sherbet" the speaker, one of the family members, begins with the description of the traditional food and how it is cooked before the family eats it. The speaker describes what kind of dish it is and tells of the most important part of the meal that is suppose to be eaten by the head of the family. As the family sits at the table the speaker introduces the memory of their father who had just recently passed away and they mention this because he use to do the honor of eating the best part of the meal(the head of the trout)but since he passed away the mother was the one responsible for this. The memory gives a very depressing tone on how the speaker describes how he/she feels that their father is walking down the loanly road that is death. the snow covered road represents the cold and death which signified that the father was dead. The head of the trout signified the person in charge of the family or the most important one in the family. In "Grape Sherbet" the speaker, one of the children in the famiy, begins by telling about the memory of her father about to hand out the delicious traditional dessert that he always prepares with his own secret recipe. The speaker describes what they do that day as they play outside their house since that's where the setting takes place and expresses teir excitement as they see him walk out with the grape sherbets in this hand. it tells of the grandmother sitting on the porch with disapprovalof the treat since she is diabetic. That memory gives off a very joyous tone but then the speaker talks about the father being dead which signifies that years have passed and the children are older now. They tell how they wish to remember the taste of the sherbet but they cannot because the father never gave them the receipe. The grape sherbet signified that the father was unique and special and that, like the frozen treat, he wont be there forever but only the memory of it will last forever. the message in both of the poems is that even if a special person with whom you shared many memories dies they will still be alive in the memories you keep which never die and any object can trigger such memories.
ReplyDelete-Melissa Chavez, 4th Period
In the short poems grape sherbet by rita dove and eating together by li-young lee they have a lot of simillarities. Both of the poems talk about family traditions and how they comemorate those traditions. In grape sherbet they have the grape sherbet as the food that brings them together and is symbolic because it represents getting together with family and enjoying the sherbet together. In eating together they have a fish trout that they use to show that everytime this meal is made it is symbolic for them to eat together and spend family time. The tone of grape sherbet starts off joyful with the dad making his signature plate but later in the poem the tone gets sad because they speak of the death of their dad. The tone in eating together als starts off well and gets sadder as the poem progresse with also the passing of the father. The two peoms bothe use symbolism really well, in eating together they use the snow as a representation for death, and in grape sherbet they use the mounds of grass and stones as symbolism for the grave yard. The common theme these poems have are that wether something bad happens like a passing of a loved one we should still get together and remember our loved ones through food or any other form of symbols. - aaron gaona 4 period
ReplyDeleteKelly Fung
ReplyDeleteIn the poems “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet”, the speakers both describe a traditional dish passed down in their families and associate it with their father’s death. In the poem “Eating Together”, steamed trout isn’t a traditional dish that’s eaten on a holiday, it is a representation of a family dinner. On the other hand, “Grape Sherbet” illustrates a sweet, snowy sherbet the speaker’s father serves on every Memorial Day; this dish representing the importance of the holiday. These dishes also associate with their memories of their fathers that passed away. In “Eating Together”, the speaker remembers the time, a few weeks before his father’s death, and their lunch time spent together around a table with trout and rice. In “Grape Sherbet”, the speaker tries to recall the taste of the sherbet that his/her father took with him which is lost forever. But there is one thing that Rita Dove mentions in her poem that Li-Young Lee didn’t, and that is regret. The speaker in “Grape Sherbet” shows a tone of regret at the end while in “Eating Together” the speaker shows sadness. The speaker shows regret of her/her neglect of a simple dish that her father kept a secret of.
In “Grape Sherbet”, kids are playing and enjoying the holiday, while the father serves the family tradition of the soft and sweet sherbet. Playing on the grass mounds and naming the stones, they saw a joke. But it was the father’s death the ‘joke’ states, it’s the loss of a family tradition. The grass mounds indicate the graveyard and it’s the father lying under their feet.
In “Eating Together”, the whole family is gathered together eating their family tradition, steamed trout with ginger, green onions, and sesame oil, while the speaker cherishes the memory of having lunch with the father. The mother eating the head, like the father did before he laid on the snow covered road, in which the road symbolizes his life and the snow indicating the coldness and the end of his covered life.
For both of the poems death, the unannounced yet known presence unleashes both of the speakers emotions. These emotions where the memories of the speakers retell the story of them enjoying life with the now fallen family memeber. In the poems, both of the fathers are dead but did/ made something that reignites the memories in the speakers. In the poem "Grape Sherbert" by Rita Dove the speaker recalls a family barbecue that took place on memorial day. While her father prepared the food, including his special dish the young speaker and his/her friend runs and goes playing around a cemetery. The children don't know that those mounds of rock jutting out of the ground were graves. They had heard the tales of people being buried underneath their feet,however their young minds taking things as jokes and times of laughter thought it was just a joke until the speaker,s father dies. When he dies the family buries him in the same cemetery the kids had once played on. The speaker now knowing that his/her father layed underneath her feet and that the adults told were true. The speaker then thanks the father for caring and makung the ever favorite grape sherbert icecream she/he loved so much. She/he could no longer maje or experience the icecream because the father died with the recipe however the memory if it all remained in the speaker's heart. In the other poem "Eating Together", the speaker and his family are having a meal of trout,green onions with rice and sesame oil. As he glances around he notices the way his mother holds the chopsticks and glwnces at the meal. This meal used to be his father's favorite. He remebers how his father died and compares it to nature. The symbol of the way his mother holds the chopsticks all the way to the favorite meal and the way his father had died lays in his own memory. Both of the poems tones are knowledgeable but also experienced and no longer innocent. They have seen and experienced the vacancy in their lives and it has marked them. However through their tragedy is the omnipresent memoris if their fathers and how those symbols remain apart of them just like it was apart of their fathers.
ReplyDeleteIshmael Rico 5 period
ReplyDeleteBoth Rita Dove’s “Grape Sherbet” and “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee have to do with family and reliving memories. In “Eating Together” a family is around the table waiting to begin consumption when a sister notices that the mother is holding the meat between her fingers the way her father used to before he died. In Rita Dove’s poem “Grape Sherbert” a young, happy Rita plays near her house as she gallops over grassed-over mounds. In both poems, the memories control their emotions. In “Grape Sherbert” the memories make her realize why her father used to make the sherbert. In “Eating Together” the memory of her father dying is ignited by the way her mother holds the meat between her fingers. The setting in Lee’s poem takes place around a table waiting for delicious trout, scallion, ginger, and sesame seed oil. The food in “Grape Sherbert” consisted of Memorial Day food like melons, and her father’s masterpiece of sherbert. The tone in Lee’s poem is very opposing to Dove’s poem because Lee’s poem foreshadows loneliness. Represented through a sleep-like state compared to a “snow-covered road without any travelers, and lonely for no one,” Rita Dove’s poem gives a cheerful expression as she gallops and names stones, even representing her sour, diabetic grandmother in a humorous tone. The only sprinkle of unhappiness is portrayed at the end in which she realizes that the recipe is lost as well as why her father bothered to make it. Symbols in both poems were food, although food symbols in “Eating Together” were there, they weren’t as powerful as Rita Dove’s poem because they didn’t dig in as deep into the roots of the poem. In Dove’s “Grape Sherbert” the whole poem is based around the sherbert whereas in “Eating Together” it was the ignition for the core of the poem which was her father’s memory which was through the sight of her mother eating the meat. The theme in Dove’s poem would be to never take for granted special things in your family, and the message in “Eating Together” would be people’s memories are kept alive through people that they care about or who knew them well.
Adam Warner:4th Period
ReplyDeleteMost people believe that death is a terrible thing, and in most cases those people are correct. Sometimes it is a necessary thing, and others will either ignore death or accept it. From both of these poems, there are deep signals that both authors send to the reader. Each of the poems has a very sad and incomprehensible feeling for the death of a loved one. I think that having a memory is something that everyone holds close to their heart because sometimes a memory is all they have left. Their messages are very similar to each other, but the way the authors presented them are very unique.
Rita Dove writes about how the father is misplaced from their daily life, and there is a token of his memory within the recipe for grape sherbet. She includes deep detail about the situation without speaking about the father's death directly. In the poem Grape Sherbet, the author's voice is very strong yet she still doesn't tell us about the father's death. It has an entire story about Memorial Day and is read from the children's perspective. The largest symbol is the grandmother's actions because she refuses to interact with what causes her anguish. Her actions are also portrayed into the children's minds because they are too young to realize it, but they will soon see what really happened to their father.
Li-Young Lee's poem is another story about loss of a family member. Also, their father dies because of some cause. Yet the family sadly accepts their father's death because they know that they cannot control the natural flow of life. The voice of the author was more abrupt and direct than the other poem. I think that the fish is also another symbol of the life cycle. It is a strong symbol because it is described like a delicacy, yet it's still dead. Also, the same goes for the dad because he was a special individual to everyone in the family. Yet death takes all, and it leaves them thinking about what could have been different. The other foods that complemented the main dish were ginger, onion, rice, and some sesame oil. You can also suppose that all these counterparts of the meal are like the members of a family; they are never good without each other, but they do complement one another when they are together. The second half of the poem directly talks about the father's impact on them and how they deal with their loss.
These two poems are like two cousins. They both involve a father's death and their children are responding to the loss. These differences might seem to be insignificant at first, but while examining the details, I could see multiple things that I didn't see before. At first, I didn't realize that the food or the snow was a symbol for anything. Also the grandmother in Grape Sherbet was a huge character and symbol, yet I wasn't able to pay close attention because there were other details swarming around the underlying information.
Meryl Cantoria
ReplyDeleteFamily is the most important thing in the world because it compasses all levels of relationships. Although both poems illustrates nostalgic kids expressing their morose for their fathers, Rita Dove’s “Grape Sherbet” served grape sherbet as the symbol which takes place on a graveyard while Li-Young Lee’s “Eating Together” served trout and rice as the symbol which took place during a family dinner. Because of the speaker’s use of the word father and mother, it was easily recognized that the speaker in “Eating Together” is a daughter or a son of one of the adult characters in the story. The same goes to “Grape Sherbet”, speaker used the term dad and grandma. In Li-Young Lee’s poem, it talks about family eating together and as they eat the trout, they start to reminisce their father. In the dinner table, the mom eats the head of the trout which served as a symbol pertaining to the head of the family, their dad. Therefore as the mom eats the head of the trout, it is symbolizing the dead of their father. In Rita Dove’s poem, it talks about the recollection of a daughter or son’s memories of her father and they way his or her father makes grape sherbet during a memorial day. The grape sherbet symbolized as hope, because as the speaker describes his or her dad’s grape sherbet, the speaker joyfully eats it but as soon as his or her father dies, the speaker could not remember the taste of it anymore. Even though both poems shared vast differences, the had similar theme which is that family connects everyone together.
Lizel San Juan
ReplyDeleteLoss of a prominent family member often provides a nostalgic feeling for the immediate family. In both Li-Young Lee’s and Rita Dove’s poems, the stories are told from a child’s perspective on their father passing away, although the difference in the latter poem is that it turns out to have all been a flashback and ends in the viewpoint of an elderly person reminiscing. Also, both speakers associate certain foods with their fathers. In “Eating Together”, it is recalled the way the speaker’s father used to hold trout whenever the family ate just weeks earlier, while in “Grape Sherbet”, the father is known for the grape sherbet delicacy he would create when the speaker was still a child. Another aspect of both poems are the distinct settings. Granted they similarly happen in events where the speakers partake in food consumption, Li-Young Lee’s poem takes place within a casual family meal and Rita Dove’s poem occurs one Memorial Day many years ago. As for the tones of the poems, “Eating Together” is told solemnly, but on the other hand, “Grape Sherbet” radiates cheerfulness in the flashback before transitioning into a more mature manner. Both are nevertheless spoken in a sense of understanding and compassion for what has happened. Next, the theme in Li-Young Lee’s poem is that family meals are never truly wholesome with the absence of one member, while the theme of Rita Dove’s poem is that memories can never be recreated.The themes of the two additionally acknowledge the fact that death is inevitable for everyone. Lastly, a symbol in Lee’s poem includes sleep, which represents the “eternal sleep” state the dead are in, and the “joke” in Dove’s poem symbolizes the innocence and naivety of children when it comes to a subject as serious as dying.
-Frederick Kao:5th period
ReplyDeleteIn both of the poems that were written by Li-Young Lee and Rita Dove talk about a personal death in their immediate family. Some contrasts between the poets are their cultures, meaning different traditions and food and things of that nature. In the story other things that were different memory wise was how they perceived the time spent with their loved one. Li-Young told of a time when he was eating dinner with his entire family at a dinner table when in Rita Dove’s poem she talks about when she would go out into a picnic with her family. Comparisons in both of the poet’s memories are the food and its significance. In Li-Young’s poem he talks about the fish as being very significant to his family member because of what they did with the fish head at the dinner table. In Rita Dove’s poem she talks about the Grape Sherbet that relates to her father who didn’t tell her the recipe on how to make it, which made it significant in remembering him. Memory is truly a powerful force. The tones of the poems I thought were different. Both in comparison were sad but Rita Dove’s poem had somewhat of a tone of regret when Li-Young’s did not. The one central message of these poems was to not forget someone; no matter how you remember them you will still always care.
Sharon Phan
ReplyDeleteIn both “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee and “Grape Sherbet” by Rita Dove, they both reminisce about past family experiences. Indirectly, they explain how they coped with death.
In Li-Young Lee’s poem, it takes place during a family lunch at home. They eat steamed fish with some ginger and green onions. While eating together, he notices the way his mother eats the trout’s head. This reminds him of his father. Before his father passed, he ate it in the same way. This symbolizes that the mother is now the head of the house. The speaker is probably in the perspective of a young child’s point of view and he expresses his sorrow for his father’s death in a mature tone. Although the father has passed, the tradition of eating together still continues, which reveals how important it really is.
Rita Dove’s, “Grape Sherbet”, takes place in a cemetery on Memorial Day. Her father makes a delicious grape sherbet that everybody enjoys. In this poem, her father uses the dessert as a distraction; instead of being melancholy over the deaths of others, he uses the sherbet so that they could look back on Memorial Day as a happy holiday. At first, the tone of the poem is joyful. She humorously compares her grandmother to a torch. However, as she goes on, she begins to get serious. She realizes why her father made his famous grape sherbet.
All in all, both of these poems show the strength of memory. In each poem, there is something that makes them flashback to a time where they experienced death. In “Eating Together”, it’s when his mother eats the head of the fish and in “Grape Sherbet” it’s when she tries to remember what the sherbet tastes like.
In both of the poems, the authors are talking about their father’s death. In both stories they are told in a child’s point of view of their father’s passing. Each author had a different way of telling their story like either a flashbacks of an elderly person or the present. Also the authors had affiliated food with their father’s death that represents something about him. In “Grape Sherbet” the old person is reminiscing about her father’s secret grape sherbet that the kids would eat in family reunions, while in “Eating Together” it was the way his mother held the fish meat just like how his deceased father used to hold it a few weeks ago. The settings of both stories are particularly similar in food consumption. Both speakers are eating with family but in “Grape Sherbet” the speaker is a child on Memorial Day back in the past whereas in Li-Young’s poem it shows a family casually eating the way they would usually, except with the absence of their father. The tone in both stories are in many ways different. The tone in “Eating Together” is told somberly whereas in “Grape Sherbet” it is told in a cheerful and joyous attitude before changing over towards a more developed tone. Next, the theme in Rita Dove’s poem is that memories that have passed on with the deceased can never be recreated (Grape Sherbet) while in Li-Young’s poem the them would be that a family dinner wouldn’t be the same or whole without one family member. Both of the themes both share the same aknowledgement that death can never be avoided, that there is no hiding or running away from death but to embrace it instead (some ancient wisdom right there). The joke in “Grape Sherbet” is the innocence of the children not knowing that death is real and the symbol of “Eating Together” is sleep. The sleep represents the slumber of death, that sleep is like death because the feeling of nothing overcomes you in your sleep, not knowing where you are or when.
ReplyDeleteIn both the short poems “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee and "Grape Sherbet" By Rita Dove both dealt with the depression of losing their fathers.”Eating together” takes place at the dinner table eating. It is in the eyes of one children and watches his mom hold the yummy part of fish between her fingers which reminds the child of the father who has recently died, and now the mother is now in charge of the family . In “Eating Together” the food was steamed trout seasoned with slivers of ginger with two sprigs of green onion, and sesame oil.
ReplyDeleteIn “Grape Sherbet” takes us to a deeper meaning. It takes place at a cemetery where after the BBQ has happened the father brings out his secret recipe of grape sherbet. In which the grandmother refuses to be even near that grape sherbet. The child now is grown up and right next to the fathers grave and asks for the recipe to remember the good times.
The tone of both poems are in a depressing tone. In which the reader can understand the feeling of the author.
The message in both these poems is never take anything for granted. Preserve every precious moment with your family. They will not be always there it’s your chance to be with them and spend quality time together
-Eleeza Buesa Period 4
For both of the poems imagery was a very big important part showing and using symbolic items have a big part in the poems back ground as well as the clear picture that the author is trying to paint within the poem, Rita Doves poem has a lot of hidden secrets within using her grandmother to paint a picture of restrength the way that she stands away from the grape sherbet the tone was more playful from a child's point of you. The other poem by li-Young lee was more sad and had a strong but sad tone being that the child explains the way her mother is now taking the place of the father in the poem and she now takes the biggest parts of food and the sweetest part. The child figuratively explains how the father is at rest and cold also the mother now has to step up to the plate and be the head of the household. Both stories show a lot of strong tone and hidden meanings. The stories use symbolism as well in each poem.
ReplyDeleteA child’s innocence can usually cause ignorance in the face of death. Both the poems “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee and “Grape Sherbet” by Rita Dove speak about their childhood experiences with death (in both cases: their father’s passing) by using their personal memories. However their similarities – like in their emotion and themes, these two poems have very opaque differences – such as their settings, speakers, tones, and symbols.
ReplyDeleteThe impact of the poems – the power and emotion behind it – is very strong in both poems. In Li-Young Lee’s poem, his description of this trout, and the connection he makes to his mom’s action as she takes the “sweetest meat” of the head and how his dad would do it the same before his passing adds to the power of his poem. The final lines depict a sad scene that really creates a feeling of sorrow for the gone father. In Rita Dove’s poem, her flashback to the cemetery and her final stanza sends chills down your spine as you realize the true meaning of the poem. Both of these poems have a very strong impact in their final lines.
The themes of these two poems are similar. They both speak of death and the value of family and life. However, how they express their themes through symbolism is very different. In “Eating Together”, the author uses the trout and the sweetest meat of the head to symbolize her rise to the head of the family, and the snow-covered road symbolizes the death of her father. In “Grape Sherbet”, Rita Dove uses the grassed-over mounds as symbolism of tombstones that she went to visit in the morning. The grape sherbet represents her father, and when she says “I’ve been trying to remember the taste, but it doesn’t exist,” it means that her father does not exist. He is dead.
The settings of the two poems are similar to each other, but with a few differences. While in Li-Young Lee’s “Eating Together”, the speaker is at home during lunchtime. They are about to eat their lunch, which consists of trout. In Rita Dove’s “Grape Sherbet”, they are also eating at lunchtime, and her dad comes out with his dessert. Also in “Grape Sherbet”, there is another setting that was concealed by the use of imagery and symbolism – they were at a cemetery, described by the lines “That morning we galloped through the grassed-over mounds and named each stone for a lost milktooth.”
In the two poems, the two speakers are both children, but while the speaker in “Eating Together” did realize the death of their father, the speaker in “Grape Sherbet” was oblivious to the visit to the cemetery that took place in their poem.
The tone of Li-Young Lee’s poem is a very descriptive, simple tone. It is slightly grim in a sense, while also accepting and melancholy. The tone of Rita Dove’s poem, however, is playful, joyful – like a child. It seems to be slightly ignorant, also like a child. However, in the last stanza, it quickly moves to a dark, reminiscent tone to end the poem.
Both poems share similarities and differences, however the differences clearly overshadow the similarities.
-Juny Nguyen, Period 4
The plot of the two poems, “Eating Together” by Li-Young Lee and “Grape Sherbert” by Rita Dove, are quite similar. The areas where the poems are similar and different include setting, food served, speakers, tone of poem, power of memory, and messages in the poems
ReplyDeleteIn “Eating Together”, it is placed in a family dining room where it is lunch time and everyone in the family is gathered around the table and there is a trout steamed with sprigs of green onion, slivers of ginger and sprinkled with sesame oil with a side of rice to accompany it. In “Grape Sherbert”, the poem is based in this grassy area where they’re celebrating Memorial day.
The speaker in “ Eating Together” is most likely a young child and is watching his older siblings and mother enjoy the meal. He is watching as his mom takes the head of the fish with her fingers which brings back a memory of the way that his dad did the same thing just weeks ago before he passed away. They describe the passing as the father “..laying down to sleep on a snow-covered road, winding through pines older than him, without any travelers, and lonely for no one..” The tone of this poem turns from calm and serene to a dark, lonely and ambiguous.
The speaker in “Grape Sherbert” is also likely to be a young child. The poem is a flashback to her past. She describes the scene as kids running around and over grassed over mounds and naming tombstones. She talks in a humorous tone about her diabetic grandmother sourly refusing to eat the sherbert that her dad conducted from a secret recipe. She then talks about thinking that when people talked about death, she thought they were joking. The tone of this poem starts out as very cheerful and bright then turns into a more mellow yet not sad or upsetting tone.
The power of the speaker’s memory in “Eating Together” is still very strong because the death of his father happened not too long ago. He remembers the way that his father held the head of the fish and now, since his father is gone, his mother is the one doing the same thing which gives him flashbacks.
The power of the speaker’s memory in “Grape Sherbert” is not as strong because she is trying to remember how the grape sherbert tastes but she can’t. She really misses her father and the memories of her past but the only way she feels she can do that is by remembering the way the sherbert tastes.
The message both poems are trying to get through is that nothing last forever. Being said, you should enjoy the time you spend with others because not everything is certain.
Fiona Gee - Period 5
ReplyDeleteWhile both poems "Grape Sherbet" by Rita Dove and "Eating Together" by Li-Young Lee reveal the pain due to the loss of a loved one, they are expressed in similar yet different ways. A similarity in terms of the speakers of the poems is that both poems are in the perspective of a child. In "Grape Sherbet" the tone is lighthearted and whimsical in the beginning because the speaker is unaware of his fathers death, then near the end when the speaker says "Now I see why you bothered, father" the tone takes a turn for the more serious side. The tone in "Eating Together" is grave and pensive, for the speaker is aware of the severe situation and the impact it brings upon the family.
The poem "Grape Sherbet" takes place on Memorial day at a cemetery, as the father makes a scrumptious grape sherbet for everyone to enjoy, simply to take their minds off the fact that memorial day is such a depressing and mournful day. His intentions of making the grape sherbet are so that everyone can look back on Memorial day and their thoughts will be flooded with good memories, instead of bad.
In the poem "Eating Together" the grave family eats a trout seasoned with ginger, onion, and sesame oil, along with rice as well. The lines "My mother who will taste the sweetest meat of the head, holding it between her fingers deftly, the way my father did weeks ago" indicates the idea that since their father has passed on, the mother will now take on his role, adding to the role she has to play as a mother.
The steamed trout in the poem "Eating together" symbolizes the importance of family, for example, the way the family gathers together every dinner time and enjoy a meal together. The grape sherbet in the poem "Grape Sherbet" symbolizes the fact that even the simplest and smallest things can bring a smile and joy to everyone's day, even in the gravest of situations.
In both the poems “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet” both families encounter a death by the father of the family. The family from “Eating Together” was eating together at the table which is symbolized by the steamed trout that is shared among everyone while the mother gets the head and eats it the same way the father used to. In the “Grape Sherbet” poem, the family too was gathered on Memorial Day and enjoyed a feast together symbolized by the fathers’ famous grape sherbet which recipe is kept a secret. I believe that the memory in each poem was very similar because to me, each poem was formed by remembrance of the death of someone very important to both families. The poem “Eating Together” is about the youngest child of a family eating while his thoughts wander off to the death of his father. The poem shows how when the father died, the mother became the head of the home which was symbolized when she ate the head of the trout.
ReplyDeleteThe author, Li-Young Lee, of the poem “Eating Together” sounded much gloomier than Rita Dove, the author of “Grape Sherbet”. The setting of the poem “Eating Together” seemed like a dark and caliginous scene. On the other hand the setting in “Grape Sherbet” was a lot more vivacious and enthusiastic, until the father dies. The foods eaten in the poems varied greatly. In Li-Young Lee’s poem the family was gathered around the table eating trout which is a fish, while in Rita Dove’s poem, the family in their Memorial Day gathering had barbeque, bib, and of course grape sherbet.
In the poems "Grape Sherbert" by Rita Dove and "Eating together" by Li-Young Lee, they both describe a traditional dish that both families enjoy eating but later on the father (in both poems) ends up dying. In the poem "Eating together" Li-young writes about a child describing his/her family eating together. Later on the child's mind seems to wander off into the deceased father. The mother eating the head of the trout represents her taking on the role of the head of the family ( the head of the fish being the most important part of the fish) since the father is gone. In the poem "Grape Sherbert" by Rita Dove is a longer poem with a different story but in the end it also talks about the traditional dish and the death of the father. In her poem Rita is remembering her father and how every memorial day he would take her and her siblings to a grave yard and give them grape sherbert. But it wasn't until later that she realized that they were at a grave yard, and she understood the reason why he was giving up her sherbert was because he wanted her to associate memorial day with positive feelings, not mourning ones.
ReplyDeleteThe poem "Eating together" had a sad tone than "Grape Sherbert" because it was a very short poem, and from what was being described in the poem, there was not much being said about the family ( no happy memories). The whole poem was about the fathers death, and the mother taking over. Whether as in "Grape Sherbert" i thought it had a happier tone to it because Rita described memories of her family having fun and enjoying the sherbet, but the only thing that made it become a sad tone was the death of her father. But it can be said that in both poems both families enjoyed those traditional dishes and eating them reminded of their lost ones.
Diana Carabajal
ReplyDeleteIn the poems of Rita Dove and Li-Young Lee they both describe the memory of their father wich is no longer with them.They also say that when they are eating a particular thing they have more memories about them.Even though Li-Young-Lee's poem is shorter than Rita's the point is the same,it explains less but the point that he wants to get out gets out. Li-Young-Lee says on his poem that the eating fish with his family reminds him of when his dad would eat it with them too when he was alive.Rita poem says more,in her poem she describes how eating a particular kind of ice cream on memorial day brings her memories of when her dad would bring her ice cream when he was alive.She talks about having happy memories with her father and family and on on that particular day she remembers him even more.These two poems talk about the same thing in a way,how a particular thing can bring them unforgetable memories.
Jennifer Vu
ReplyDeleteIn the short stories, “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet," both author describes moments that represents the memories of their childhoods and the death of their fathers, and according to each story, they both describe dishes they have in memory of their father. In "Eating Together," by Li Young Lee, a family is preparing a steamed trout that represents a family dinner. In "Grape Sherbet" by Rita Dove, Dove describes a grape sherbet their father makes every year on Memorial Day. In “Eating Together,” Li Young Lee describes a family dinner in memory of their father. The mother cooks a steamed trout with ginger, green onion, and sesame oil that reminds them of their father. As they are eating the trout, the mom eats the head of trout the way their father used to eat in remembrance of their father of how he used to eat it before he died. In “Grape Sherbet,” every Memorial Day, all their family gather together and playing around and make jokes. While they are playing, their father makes a grape sherbet for them to enjoy during the holidays, but the grape sherbet is never going to exist again because their father is no longer there with them and the recipe has been kept a secret to himself, so they considered it a joke trying to remember the taste of their father’s grape sherbet. Both poems describe a memory of a dish that reminds them of their father. Such as the grape sherbet that they will never be able to taste again and the way their father ate the trout’s head.
antonio pastran
ReplyDeleteIn both of the stories it deals with the dead of their fathers. also in both "Grape Sherbert" and "Eating Together" it describes two traditional plates that bring back memories of there fathers. in "Eating Together" the head of the trout that the mom is eating represents that she in now taking the biggest role of the family. In "Grape Sherbert" every year on memorial day they have the fathers grape sherbert which is a secret recipe and very few poelpe know it.the grape sherbert represents the family getting togther and having memories of the past. the message of the story is that quality time with family is iportant and to not take it for granted.also that certain tradtions should stay the same even if one of the family members can no longer be there.
The poems "Eating Together" by Yi Young Li and "Grape Sherbert" by Rita dove are both consisting of the same factor.Their dead fathers all constructed around a meal. In "Eating Together" they eat a steamed trout and as they eat it, the mom eats the fishes head which is a remembrence of how the dad use to eat.She eats the head of the fish which means the head of the family and can resemble the father from this traditional dish. In "Grape Sherbert" they also eat a traditional dish which was much different from the last poem. The father would take the main character and the siblings to the cemetery and would give grape sherbert to the them. This showed that deaths can be great memories also. In the end both have sad tones but the families are just coming together to be happy in the old presence of their lost one.
ReplyDeleteThe sad tragedy of losing a father is strongly repressed in both “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet” but then later expressed in a way where the reader is oblivious to the reality until an obvious symbol of death is given. In “Eating Together” a family is sitting down for lunch, all the brothers and sister gather and is given sad appearances only because they are given not much of a description. In “Grape Sherbet” a child is accompanied by no body, but her dead farther and a solemn grandmother. In both poems a father has died and left behind a child, children, or even a whole family. The two families in the poems have different cultures and backgrounds. In “Eating together” the family has a meal that consists of trout and has a setting of just another day eating lunch. In “Grape Sherbet” the father is portrayed as alive and is grilling, there is no family mentioned or a specific meal, but the speaker’s father made grape sherbet. In “Eating Together” a child mourns the loss of their father by remembering the family meals they would have together. In “Grape Sherbet” a child also mourns the loss of their dad as well by visiting him at his grave and then reminisce the wonderful grape sherbet he used to make. There are many symbolic meanings in both poems. For “Eating Together” the line “to sleep like a snow covered road” means a spiraling death, “pines older than him” means the people who have passed before him. For “Grape Sherbet” the line “Grassed over mounds” means graves, “Naming each stone” means grave stones, “lying there under our feet” means the people who are buried. These two poems are very similar; then again they are very different in structure and character. Be glad to be o.k. and begin to be thankful for the values you have.
ReplyDeleteAs the two poems had a different style of writing but they both had a similar of feeling and meaning of it to relating to someone they missed. The poem of Li-Young relates the family as to food as it brings him memories on the special moments and food. As to the other poem just brings up the main points all at once out. The both poems involve memories on someone or something that makes them miss someone. They both had there own unique way as putting there thoughts together and describing the way on how each thing brings them the memories back into place. Such as putting at that way I meant on how small things can make you think you were back in time an realize somethings. Relating this to my life and others everyone has or had these types of moments and thinking this also to the poems can make you feels something and the thoughts back or as to food can also relate or in memories on there acts. They both had a different feeling but both had something that i was able to relate my own life to it.
ReplyDeletePablo Ordonez
ReplyDeleteAs the two poems had a different style of writing but they both had a similar of feeling and meaning of it to relating to someone they missed. The poem of Li-Young relates the family as to food as it brings him memories on the special moments and food. As to the other poem just brings up the main points all at once out. The both poems involve memories on someone or something that makes them miss someone. They both had there own unique way as putting there thoughts together and describing the way on how each thing brings them the memories back into place. Such as putting at that way I meant on how small things can make you think you were back in time an realize somethings. Relating this to my life and others everyone has or had these types of moments and thinking this also to the poems can make you feels something and the thoughts back or as to food can also relate or in memories on there acts. They both had a different feeling but both had something that i was able to relate my own life to it.
Marielle Lopez
ReplyDeleteWhile both poems exemplify a similar theme, "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet" deliver the common message in different foods, tones, and memory. Both short poems describe the feeling of eating a cherished food dish associated with a deceased family member. In "Eating Together," the young child describes the family gathered together eating trout. His solemn tone develops as he describes his father laid to sleep. The speaker points out how the mother now devours the head of the fish, as he remembers that his father was the one who usually did so. "Grape Sherbet" largely differs as the young girl fondly remembers a family gathering on Memorial Day. She describes the taste as a miracle, and that the whole family agrees. This shows off a joyful tune, until she can't recall the taste of it anymore. This actually means that she can't remember the taste anymore as her father isn't there to serve it for them anymore. Thus, a mournful tone is now present.
Tiffany Tran
ReplyDeleteLi-Young Lee's "Eating Together" and Rita Dove's "Grape Sherbert" display the similar and different memories, tones, settings, and symbols in the poems.
In both "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbert", the poems create a serious and mature tone. They also symbolize their poems with a certain food. Both of the speakers are at a young age and is one of the children of their deceased fathers. The similar poems reminisce a special memory of when their father was alive.
In Li-Young Lee's "Eating Together", one of the children memorize a moment when their family would gather together to eat steamed fish with rice for lunch at home. The speaker now sees that their mother is eating the fish's head and how their father used to eat it. The poem has a serious tone to it and is symbolized by the steamed fish.
In Rita Dove's "Grape Sherbert", it is told by a young child of the deceased father. The speaker talks about when her father would make grape sherbert on Memorial day and how the speaker is trying to remember how is used to taste. The poem is located at their father's graveyard and talks about how they miss their father, now that he is gone. The grape sherbert symbolizes the poem because it is the object that their father used to make on that special day.
The message that the both poems are trying to say is that memories are something that can last a lifetime and that you should cherish them.
Katherine Martinez
ReplyDeleteIn the poems “Eating Together” and “Grape Sherbet”, Both families suffer the death of their fathers . Both the speakers describe a specific dish that the family including the father ate in a specific day. In "Eating together" steamed trout symbolizes when the family ate together. Now that the father is gone its not the same as it use to be so the mother has to eat more then what she usually would . As in "Grape sherbet" the father would make sweet grape delicious sherbet on Memorial Day to symbolize the importance of that specific day . A young girl isn't able to remember the taste of the grape sherbet that her father would make because of how long it hasn't been made . The two poems are about how the fathers have passed away and how it has effected them. I believe the message behind the poems is to enjoy your loved ones before they're gone because things won't be as they use to .
Rosalie San
ReplyDeleteIn the poems "Grape Sherbet" and "Eating Together", both of the families are afflicted by the death of a family member. Both of the speakers specify the death through the use of an entree and dessert. In "Grape Sherbet" the grape sherbet is symbol, in which the little girl's father used to make on a specific day, but now that he's gone the little girl isn't able to enjoy or remember what it tastes like because he isn't there. In the poem "Eating Together", they are using an entree of steamed trout to symbolize they family enjoying it together. But when the father is gone. It's not the same feeling of eating the trout because they feel like something is missing. The tones of the poems are being mournful because of their loss. I think the message of these poems is that eating dinner or even the smallest things wouldn't be the same without someone being there.
Paul Pappi Perilla (=
ReplyDeleteThe most important point of these poems is simply the completeness of their family. However, in both poems, both families are not complete. In the poems "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet", a child of the parents from each poem tells a story about their family's traditional dish that they would eat together as a whole. The poem “Eating Together” is symbolized by their traditional dish, which was a trout seasoned with their traditional ingredients. Li-Young Lee writes about one of the children who strongly remember the death of his or her father with a reminiscing tone and explains how the family now eats together without the man of the house. The mother will now be eating the head of the fish where the sweetest meat is. This tells me that the mother is now the head and the backbone of the family.
In the poem “Grape Sherbet”, Rita Dove writes about another one of the children who also strongly misses the way their father would hand them their traditional dessert. On a beautiful morning, the family galloped through the grassed-over mounds, which symbolizes them at the cemetery. There, the family ate together their father’s “masterpiece” dessert while their father is beneath them. The speaker thought that their father was not lying under their feet because the speaker remembers so strongly how wonderful their father made the dessert as if he was the one who handed them the grape sherbet that day. However, the original taste will never exist again. The grape sherbet will be the symbol of their father.
Diogo Holanda -5th Period
ReplyDeleteBoth Poems “Grape Sherbet” and “ Eating Together” have great similarities by expressing the death of a loved one , and are represented by a classical family meal. The meals show how the family would all come together and enjoy their time with each other , but once the Fathers pass away in both poems things begin to complicate themselves. In the poem “Grape Sherbet” the speaker is one the family members, which is most likely a child. The Speaker describes what “ Grape Sherbet” the ice cream is and how its been a tradition in the family and how it was only made on Memorial Day to celebrate the Holiday. The Grape sherbet is a symbol for their father in the poem .On the other hand the poem “Eating Together” the main family meal (The Trout) is a typical meaning for a family dinner. Now back to “ Grape Sherbet” the speaker mentions that the sherbet has lost its great taste now that the original creator didn’t make it. The speaker shows a tone in sadness and when the children ran and played over the mounds on the grass which where all fun and games .The “joke” was used as Irony to represent the Fathers Death. Unlike “Grape Sherbet” , the poem “Eating Together” show a more neutral tone with less emotion with the speaker just remembering the lunch they had with their Father and how the mother replaces his spot at the Family table.
Sergio Mariscal
ReplyDeleteIn the poems "Eating Together", and "Grape Sherbet", both share a symbol that represents a memory of a father that has passed away. The meal prepared in "Eating Together" is ate by the whole family excluding the father that is no longer with them. However, the mother eats the way the father used to, showing how the mother has taken the fathers place. The meal is the symbol because the family seems to remember the father while eating, almost as if he continues being with them. This is similar to "Grape Sherbet" because the family remembers the father while eating the Grape Sherbet, and forgets that he has passed away. Until they realize how different the taste of the ice cream was, just as the family from the first poem sees the difference of having their mother taking over.
One must never let the death of a family member stop them from living the way they used to, they simply should remember the loved one with something so that they feel like if they are not alone. The foods in the poems are great examples of something the family decides to hold on to, to feel as if the father continues to be with them.
Both poems, "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet", are similar and they both share stories of a loved one who has passed away. In "Eating Tgether" a meal wa prepared for he whole family to enjoy. The whole family but the father. He has passed away and now the mother has taken his position by eating the way the father use to eat. Everybody in the family is now remebering the father as they are eating the meal. The meal is the symbol in this poem because this is what they would have when the father was still with them and now that he has passed away, they are keeping the memories with them and pretending like if the father is still with them at the moment. Now that poem can relate to "Grape Sherbet" because it also has the death of a loved one. The poem talks about how the father would make a traditional grape sherbet. When the father would make it, it would have so much meaning to it which made them like it that much more and have more ways to describe the feeling of eating the grape sherbet.But now that the father has passed away, they feel that it has lost the flavor because the father is not there to prepare it for them as he use to. The grape sherbet is the symbol representing all the memories they have for their father.
ReplyDeleteBoth speakers start off in a casual tone and then begin to daze off into a more sad tone when they begin to explain the death of their loved one.
The theme or message in the story is to never forget the little things that happens when everybody is present and to always treasure them.
-Noe Delgadillo
5th period
Jessica Ortiz
ReplyDeleteIn both of the poems, "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet" they dont say how their fathers had passed away, but they do talk about how it use to be with them around, how they use to eat their meals in a specific way. While they are saying it theyre saying it in a calm way. In "Eating Together" the mother shows that even the father is gone, she's taking both parts,she is proving to her kids she can, and by doing that she eats how the father use to eat and she eats more, as in the fathers plate. In "Grape Sherbet" they family is still close together after the fathers death, but they forget how grape sherbet taste because the father would always make some, but now that he's gone no one does it better then him, even if they try and the grandma makes a joke, which in the other poem they do a joke. Both poems are similar with both of the fathers passing away, but it has a differences.
In the poems "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet" are similar because in both poems they talk about there love ones which is the fathers that they have been passed away.In the poem "Eating Together",the whole family ate together, accept the father because he passed away.Then the mom took over the family as in mean she is taking care of the family.But in the meal the family still thinks about there father.In "Grape Sherbet" in the poem a loved one died.The father had a traditional plate of that was grape sherbet and the family loved eating it but when the father died they ate grape sherbet and did not like as much because it did not taste good as like the original one that the father made for them.The symbol in "Eating Together" is the meal because they remember the times they were whit there father as a family,in the meal they were pretending as if the father was there in the meal whit them."Grape Sherbet" symbol is the special plate the father made because that brought the family together.The message of the poems is to enjoy the times whit the family and to not forget the special things the have made.
ReplyDelete-Edgar Gavino
Both poems written by Rita Dove and Yi-Young Lee explain the similar traditions of two families who lose a loved one. In both poems, "Grape Sherbet" and "Eating Together" both families are feasting with a traditional dish they eat and end up with a tragic lost of their fathers.
DeleteIn "Eating Together" , the mother made the steamed trout with green onion, oil and ginger. The trout head that the mother ate represented her taking over the family and becoming the role model of her son or daughter because that's what the father did. In "Grape Sherbet" , the fathers traditional sherbet that he made every year on Memorial Day represented the family because it was a secret recipe. Both poems encounter similarities because they go through a death and their traditions change because of it.
The setting of both poems involves in a place were you would eat , in other words dinning table etc. The tone of "Grape Sherbet," is shocked yet sad but the tone of "Eating Together," is more cheerful because they're remembering their father. The theme of both poems is that everyone loses someone in their life; in the end we all need to die. Although it may hurt , we need to take it in a more mature way and think of all the good things that, that person would want; nothing should ever change regardless.
-Mariana Ponce
In the short story sherbet by rita dove and eating together by li-young lee they both talk about family eating together and making a traditional plate. The are both traditional because they are making that special plate in honor of some one. In the short story sherbet they are all in the backyard but they really mean that thy are in the graveyard all gathered. The sherbet is a dish that this man would make when all the family was gathered on a special occasions. On the short story eating together they all also make a special dish which is a fish. These both short story's share the same tone they all have a great fay eating having fun and as you read it becomes a sadder and sadder tone. These both poems also have great symbolism because in the short story sherbet they show stone as symbols of a graveyard with is a lost of some one and that someone is their father. In eating together they use symbolism to also tell about a death which is the snow. I think the theme of this story is no matter how hard life can get u can always get out some big memory or a good thing out of it.
ReplyDeleteBy: Alan Hernandez
Period:4
Losing a loved one is one of the most tragical things that can happen in a family. In both poems the writers experience the death of their father. In “Eating Together”, Li-Young Lee describes the traditional meal course that he and his family would have when his father was alive. After the father died his mother took over the father’s responsibilities. In most cases fathers are the ones that are in charge of the family. Most of them hold a high position in their family. Lee shows this when he says that the mom eats the head of the trout like the father used to before he died. In “Grape Sherbet”, since the beginning we noticed the joyness of a happy family. Especially when the father mad his secret recipe grape sherbet. However all that ends when the kids grow up and realize that their father died along with the secret recipe. The only things that the children have left are the memories of the delicious desert that their father used to make.
ReplyDeleteKarina Bolanos
In my opinion, both "Eating Together" and "Grape Sherbet" see death in distinctive ways. One way or another, a loss of a family member is painful as it sounds, but it depends how you're taught how to deal with it. "Eating Together" made their passed away father sound more sad and negative than good. the tone of this was feeling like you're missing something you know you cant get back. In "Grape Sherbet," the memories were happier and drew a better picture in my head. The children and family members were still never in a good mood at anytime, but the rest knew that the dad was in a better place. The food in both poems is the important symbol that give off the tone in the context. Food in both poems was a part of their family bond. Without the person participating in the making or sharing of the food the moments that occurred were just a memory, that nobody will forget.
ReplyDelete-Miguel Ochoa
The fact of loosing a love one in the family can bring up a tradition to remember the lost one. The tradition can either be enjoyable or it could bring bad memories to them. Each family has their own way to remember a lost one. In Eating Together by Li-Young Lee the author describes how the family use to eat together a dish of fish once before their dad past away. She describes the importance of a family dinner with their mom , brothers, sisters and father but he no longer was their with them . The way they eat the fish is a way they will remember their father. In the other poem Grape Sherbet by Rita Dove describe their family ritual. The way they use to celebrate Memorial day With their father creating a masterpiece that was a grape sherbet. Rita Dove explains what happens through out the at and how it's a joke that he is dead but in reality he is . For a reason she can't accept the fact he is gone and the the grape sherbet recipe reminds her of her father. It seems that the recipe brings the author a source of a pain, like if she had lost the world one her father once was gone. Both of the poems include a death of a father and that a family dish brings the memory of the death. Both families or authors seem to have different cultural backgrounds and different traditions but at the end they still are remembering true lost one.
ReplyDeleteSantiago Ayala
When peopleblose soneone special in ther life its devastateing because you love them. When do start to remeber about the person it can be a good feeling or bad.in the storeie "Grape Sherbet" and. "Eating Together" see that death can cause a dramtic effect on you. It can have many ways how death is it can be sad or it can be happy. In "Eating Together" is sounds like when the farther died it was so sad rather than being happy. The symbol in eating together is the meal because it reprsent the family it brought a good memory of the farthet. In the storie Grape sheret it has a happy sad cause the childern feel like they lodt the falvor of the grape shearbet. The symbol is the grape shert because without the farther they couldnt taste the grape. Theri farter brought them happiness but then they lost him. If there fartger was still around nd they would have the taste but not anymore.
ReplyDeleteLuis rodriguez
Period 5